Mike Sando ranks the head coaching opportunities

[Mr. Scot]

...and yeah, we come in last.

Here's the writeup on the Panthers, with a new little piece of info about one of Tepper's practices.

8. Carolina Panthers

The next coach in Carolina must manage an impulsive owner while also creating a successful offense around an outlier quarterback whose confidence could need rebuilding after a brutal rookie season. Working within a weaker division should help, but this job comes with flashing red warning lights.

People who have worked for Panthers owner David Tepper tend to like him. They know he cares about winning. They also have suffered from his overly impulsive decision-making and his intrusion in their areas of expertise.

They question whether Tepper’s methods work as well in the NFL as they might in the investing world that Tepper dominated as a hedge-fund manager. For example, coaches who have worked in Carolina say Tepper’s fact-finding missions in the building, which include asking members of the offensive staff about their defensive counterparts, and vice versa, can amplify divisions.

Tepper signed Frank Reich and a staff featuring big names to long-term contracts amid much fanfare last offseason. Reich lasted 11 games. By then, he had relinquished and taken back play-calling duties, operating like a coach under great pressure from above. The next coach should expect similar treatment until Tepper demonstrates otherwise.

...

Yikes!

Edited January 18, 2024 by Mr. Scot

[LinvilleGorge]

It's beyond obvious at this point that we're completely fuged until David Tepper realizes that he is our football problem. I just don't think he will. He came in with an overbearing, micromanaging reputation and that has certainly proven accurate.

[Mr. Scot]

Part of what we found most concerning from the "Hunger Games" story was the question of why Tepper would listen to coaches backstabbing their colleagues rather than squashing that sort of internal toxicity.

Turns out he was actually encouraging it

Edited January 18, 2024 by Mr. Scot

[Waldo]

No wonder his staff keep eating themselves...

Yeah no good chance in Carolina until Tepper removes himself from the daily stuff. He also loves doing all of the stuff that made his team the worst in the league. It's time to pack up hope and put it somewhere dark and dry because it's not useful here anymore. 

[Evil Hurney]

31 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

For example, coaches who have worked in Carolina say Tepper’s fact-finding missions in the building, which include asking members of the offensive staff about their defensive counterparts, and vice versa, can amplify divisions.

This sounds like part of the culture used by successful hedge funds.

Example from Business Insider:

Quote

Many employees fear criticizing their peers and managers to their face — but at Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, you could get fired if you don't.

Bridgewater, run by the billionaire Ray Dalio, has a well-documented culture of "radical transparency," where employees routinely judge one another's performance. The corporate culture isn't for the faint of heart — Dalio says about 30% of new employees leave the firm within 18 months.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong for a football team; coaches (at least the ones I've talked with) tend to be macho types that are used to giving and receiving harsh criticism.

Edited January 18, 2024 by Evil Hurney

[Mr. Scot]

3 minutes ago, Evil Hurney said:

I'm not saying it's right or wrong for a football team; coaches (at least the ones I've talked with) tend to be macho types that are used to giving and receiving harsh criticism.

Oh, I absolutely think it's wrong for a football team.

Harsh criticism is fine, but say it to my face, not behind my back to the owner.

[Mr. Scot]

And yeah, a lot of this boils down to the common story of what happens when good guys go to work for a--holes...

Frank Reich and Scott Fitterer were both considered pretty solid people, but they went to work for a boss who seemed to think JR Ewing was a role model.

If you're the good guy in that situation, you have two choices: keep trying to be the best person you can amid the chaos or just give in and become the bad guy.

Reich took the former path, while Fitterer apparently turned to The Dark Side (or at least took some advice from it). That path hardly ever works because the natural bad guys will always be better at it.

[The Lobo]

42 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Part of what we found most concerning from the "Hunger Games" story was the question of why Tepper would listen to coaches backstabbing their colleagues rather than squashing that sort of internal toxicity.

Turns out he was actually encouraging it

As long as he is involved with anything, we are doomed.

[mav1234]

6 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Reich took the former path, while Fitterer apparently turned to The Dark Side (or at least took some advice from it). That path hardly ever works because the natural bad guys will always be better at it.

It really doesn't matter what Fitterer did. If he wasn't terrible at his job, he'd still be GM.

Reich, maybe you can argue that his lack of success was ownership related.

Fitterer appears to just suck.

[rayzor]

[top dawg]

We get it, Scot, we're always last on the list. At this point you're killing us. 

[top dawg]

We're the no man's land of the league (perhaps on and off the field). We're in a vertex, to the point of throwing poo up against a wall and seeing what sticks, while spinning around at 200 mph. 

Can dumb luck even save us now? It looks like that might be what it takes due to the pure inTeptitude.

[Tarheel119]

2 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

...and yeah, we come in last.

Here's the writeup on the Panthers, with a new little piece of info about one of Tepper's practices.

8. Carolina Panthers

The next coach in Carolina must manage an impulsive owner while also creating a successful offense around an outlier quarterback whose confidence could need rebuilding after a brutal rookie season. Working within a weaker division should help, but this job comes with flashing red warning lights.

People who have worked for Panthers owner David Tepper tend to like him. They know he cares about winning. They also have suffered from his overly impulsive decision-making and his intrusion in their areas of expertise.

They question whether Tepper’s methods work as well in the NFL as they might in the investing world that Tepper dominated as a hedge-fund manager. For example, coaches who have worked in Carolina say Tepper’s fact-finding missions in the building, which include asking members of the offensive staff about their defensive counterparts, and vice versa, can amplify divisions.

Tepper signed Frank Reich and a staff featuring big names to long-term contracts amid much fanfare last offseason. Reich lasted 11 games. By then, he had relinquished and taken back play-calling duties, operating like a coach under great pressure from above. The next coach should expect similar treatment until Tepper demonstrates otherwise.

...

Yikes!

Not a Tepper sympathizer at all, but if a coach demonstrated they knew what they were doing and you could see some progress, he’d probably back off a little. A huge issue is we looked so inept under Reich. 

[top dawg]

9 minutes ago, Tarheel119 said:

Not a Tepper sympathizer at all, but if a coach demonstrated they knew what they were doing and you could see some progress, he’d probably back off a little. A huge issue is we looked so inept under Reich. 

I understand, but the buck stops with Tepper. I give him no pass.